Inside Elvis by Ed Parker

[Drunk Monk]

I read this as background research for my upcoming work with Lou Reed. It's a funny book, vanity published (I read the limited first edition which we sell, published in 78 ). It redefines fawning. Ed Parker was the founder of American Kenpo and starred in Revenge of the Pink Panther. He was also Elvis's bodyguard and karate teacher. In one part, he talks about the 'love affair' that broke up Elvis's marriage and 'may have cost him his life'. He meant his love affair with his audience. Apparently, his only drug problem was with aspirin, and occasionally, his keepers sedated him. The only chapter that was amusing was the one on religion, where Parker, a devout Mormon, calls Zen Buddhism a 'far out doctrine' and then goes on to talk about Elvis's and his UFO experiences, complete with a hand-drawn diagram of a UFO's inner workings.
http://www.martialartsmart.net/kb206.html
I just couldn't resist posting this here. In fact, I think the only reason I finished the book was to post it here.